Anyone starting to wonder if they should be making a little ‘emergency inventory’

[tghwqomn]

Don’t laugh! 😆

I mean I’m not overly worried about there suddenly being ww3 and bombs dropping above our heads next week. But hey, natural disasters, some variant of a Covid drama put upon us again, one day one of the mad countries with some nuclear weapon may surprise us. God knows, nothing surprises me lately with the stuff going on. The trust in our politicians and well our own royal family member of two shows these people just say what they think we want to hear or need to hear. Who knows what’s going on behind the scenes.
The world seems to be pretty balmy lately.

But one thing since becoming a mum is you do think more about ‘what if’.

I didn’t have kids when Covid happened. And I didn’t really buy into it as much as others (I know we all have our own viewpoints on it).
But you’ve got to admit the world is feeling a bit weird lately.

So I’d love to hear what others would in a worst case scenario think they’d want or put in an emergency suitcase or keep stocked at home or whatever.

It can be light hearted or serious.. enlighten me 🙃

We could probably survive several weeks on the tins and dried goods we always have in. Don't use bottled water so there's no point in buying some just to replace when it goes out of date.

I have a stash with
wind up/ solar powered torches, radio, chargers.
camping gas stove and gas canisters.
water.
candles, matches, lighters.
need to add loo rolls and pasta.
my Dh thinks I’m bonkers but it makes me feel better 😀

Lots of sensible advice on here. It's not all about zombie nuclear apocalypse. Have a look on the preppers board. The gov be prepared site is great too. Think about what could happen and how sensible precautions could help. Fire/flood/gas leak/storm/temporary issue getting to the shops. It might just be that everyone in your house gets norovirus or as happened to me recently a carbon monoxide leak which almost had me banished from the house with no warning.

I’ve always kept an emergency box in a cupboard above my washing machine, it’s nicknamed the cupboard of doom, ( just because stuff tends to get lobbed in there when I’m doing a tidy up). Twice a year i dig out the box, check dates on meds, batteries, tinned and packaged food etc. check torch and radio work, check mini gas cooker… it’s just something which got drummed into me at 18 living in a geologically unstable part of the world. Similarly in the winter I carry an ‘sos’ bag in my car, as I once got stuck in a snow storm, and it got bloody cold. On hikes greater than two hours and in the wilds a rucksack with emergency provisions. I don’t really think of it as prepping, and I hope I never have to use any bits of kit, but I can guarantee the one time I don’t have it is the one time I’ll need it.

You can't really prep for this really. Just the bog standard have some grub in. A bit of water/purifier tablets, fully charged power banks and maybe fill the car up as shenanigans in the middle east puts pump prices up.

Medical supplies and cash.

When I was at uni we had an emergency bottle of tequila for if nuclear war broke out because we were determined to not go down sober… students and their priorities. We took it pretty seriously as well, no one was permitted to drink it and it was hidden in the cleaning cupboard and a label on it saying do not drink.

These days because of where we live, we would be taken out in an instant so I don’t think there’s any point. I do have loads of tinned food though in case me and DH get sick and can’t cook properly - we both got flu last year it was fucking awful.

We’ve got a float of cash
spares of most store cupboard items and a pretty full freezer so we can hunker down for a few weeks if shops go mad (looking at you, Covid)
we camp so already have cooking stuff if needed
water purification tabs
wind up radio
battery lights (see: camping)
hot water bottles
about to renew daughters passport so will feel
very uneasy until we get that back!

as pp's have said, in absolute worst case world ending scenario, none of this will help! It's more about lesser (but still disruptive possibilities) i.e. if there was a cyber attack on your/multiple banks then supermarkets/garages etc should still accept cash. Look how long it took M&S to get back up and running - how long would you be able to go without buying anything if you couldn't use your bank card?

I'm always shocked by how many people only have one bank account as well - all it takes is for you to lose it/it to be hacked/that one bank to go into administration/cyber issue and you're screwed!

Like many people, I wouldn't last too long without access to modern medical science. So I really can't see the point in stocking up on beans and rice.

I have about ten days worth of tinned/packet foods and water; large tea lights and a stash of old Gu pots as holders; lighters and matches; batteries and lots of battery operated fairy lights and camping torches (which I have anyway, not something I've specifically bought). I have a good first aid kit plus OTC meds and a couple of weeks of back prescription meds.
Camping stove and gas cannisters (again not something I bought specifically) and kettle that goes on it
A large pack of cheap loo roll, XL wet wipes, dry shampoo.
Battery operated radio.

I started getting into low key prepping in 2019 when there were concerns about how Brexit might affect supplies. It came in bloody useful when my dad was placed on end of life care just as the first lockdown hit and I was shielding to care for him at home. Two households comprising 3 adults, 1 teenager and two cats often sharing 1 delivery of no more than 40 items per 7-10 days would not have been easy without tha back up stash.

But the thread was started by @tghwqomn why should op do that?

Because tghwqomn clearly didn’t know there was a whole topic on prepping and I thought she might be interested, having started the thread

I’m ready

Would it be possible to link the radio please? Sounds great for 20 quid!

We always have a stock of necessities - a wind up radio, enough food to keep us going for a few weeks (once we've worked through the fridge and freezer we have various tins, jars, and dried goods).

When Covid hit and the loo roll rush was on I counted how many loo rolls we already had (45) - we just systematically buy a little more than we need and store it.

It's reassuring to know we could be snowed-in, flooded-in, cyber-attacked, or whatever and be able to cope.

I'm aware this is a position of priviledge, and many people live hand-to-mouth.

I think where theres an assumption systems will go back up (the most likely) then yes. It would be very useful. In a zombie apocalypse scenario where the entire fabric of society has collapsed and noone has hopes of it restarting then no. But that's very unlikely. I think it was Ireland that had the banks closed for a year in the 1970s and people relied on old bank notes and IOUs. There's more resilience in systems than people think so I think if banks closed today because of a massive cyber attack (or run on the banks) shops and people would still accept money. In fact they'd be keen to get it so they could reuse it themselves.

I think the chances of a war based emergency here are low and if it did reach us a few cans of beans won't help.

There are far more bog standard emergencies you can plan for though.

Fire - check your alarms and make sure you have some wired in. Get fire ladder if you have poor access e.g. loft rooms. Practice a fire drill with your kids.

Floods - think about where you are storing important documents. If you are in a flood risk area consider sand bags. Sign up ood warnings with the environment agency. Have some spare cans / noodles etc.

Power cuts etc. Get a small gas stove. Consider solar panels. Get a solar charger. Get a wind up radio.

That is completely out of reach for the majority of people.

Oh you were being helpful rather than suggesting @tghwqomn should abandon their own thread?
That's not how you came across. Never mind.

I would be lucky to be able to lay my hands on $100

£1k sounds excessive.

Exactly. I'd rather die.

You don't need bottled water, just fill a few bottles from the tap and replace the water every now and again. I really don't understand why people buy bottled water in case of disaster.

£1,000 in cash isn't getting you anywhere.

Over the last few years I have gathered a few things toast me through a power cut. Bearing in mind I live rurally and we have at least one a year, occasionally a few days.

I have:
Rechargeable lights (torches, and desk lamps)
Battery radio
Power banks, including one solar powered
Kelly Kettle (as it’s miserable being cold and not easily being able to heat water)
Bottled water
Spare long-life food

I think if you have the space and disposable
income for it, it’s a good idea.

Supply chains are what worry me. Not anything crazy but world affairs and also having things like water, power disrupted.

My dad stores fairly large quantities of bottled
water at his house plus he has a small generator, solar panels & batteries, camping stoves and a lot of tinned and packet food. When it gets near to use by dates he gives it all
to the food bank and starts again. But he can afford it and has a huge triple garage to keep it all in. He could survive a couple of months easily.

I don’t sadly! But I know where I’ll go if it happens!